White Almond Cupcakes with Strawberry...

Bea's Homemade White Cake

To make the strawberry simple syrup, place 2-3 strawberries cut in half in a small saucepan. To the pan add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar. Bring to a boil till all the sugar has disolved and the syrup is now colored a beautiful red/pink. Let simmer for a couple of more minutes. Turn off heat, remove strawberries (you can incorporate these into your puree, or do what I do... POP THESE BABIES IN YOUR MOUTH :-) ), let syrup cool.


As syrup is cooling, toast your almonds I usually use a small saute pan, dry heat; saute for a minute or so till almonds start to golden nicely. TURN OFF HEAT. Nuts burn faster than Snookie can whip out the mascara I tell you!!!! ;-) Set aside.

Prep your cupcake tins. Line them with liners, and set aside.
Prepare your cake recipe using my variations above. The nuts should be cool now, chop them finely and add to your cake batter. Fold in the chopped almonds.

Preheat oven to 350F. Fill your cupake tins 2/3 of the way full. Tap the pans gently on a flat surface to ensure no air bubbles remain and your cupcakes rise evenly. Bake for 22-24 minutes or till cake tester comes out clean. Mine took approximately 22 minutes. Remove from oven, and place on cooling rack to cool for a few minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, remove them from the tins and place directly on cooling racks.

As cupcakes are baking, prepare your filling. Start by using softened butter and cream cheese (room temperature). Using your food processor or silver bullet etc., puree your strawberries. Set aside.
In your stand up mixer or mixer of choice, using your whisk attachment, add your cream cheese and your butter. Whip till nice and fluffy. Next add your confectioner's sugar, mix well. Finally add your pureed strawberries and your simple syrup. Mix for a few minutes till all the strawberries have been incorporated and the filling is a beautiful pastel pink. Set bowl in refridgerator to chill till ready to use.

The cupcakes should be ready now. Using a cupcake plunger (new gadget, LOVE IT), make a nice hole in the cupcakes to prepare for the filling. Or make a hole using gadget of your choice.

Place your amazing light filling into a piping bag or ziplock bag. Fill your cupcakes and decorate with fresh strawberries or sparkly sugar OR BOTH!!
Place on a pretty platter and get ready for COMPLIMENTS GALORE and definetly empty platters!!!


*Note: this was the first time I used my plunger above. I didn't consider how LARGE the holes were, so I will def. double my filling recipe next time I make these, and TRUST ME, I WILL BE MAKING THESE BABIES AGAIN!!! My dh's coworkers went nuts!! They said they were OUTTA THIS WORLD STRAWBERRY/NUTTY GOOD!!!